₦airaland Forum

In less than three months after her husband, President Muhammadu Buhari, left power, Aisha Buhari has amplified a video of a woman berating Nigerian hospitals and doctors for “ruining lives.”

Mrs Buhari, in her Facebook story on Sunday, amplified the criticisms of a woman in glasses and dressed in a milk colour hijab saying Nigerian doctors and medical systems are “ruining lives.”

“I’m a victim; Nigeria happened to me. My son’s life was ruined by an error from a medical doctor,” the woman lamented. “This is one among thousands of children out there and families that have been ruined by the system.

“It is high time we start (sic) calling out names of hospitals that are ruining families. We will hold you responsible for your actions. How can a general hospital, a government hospital, not have a phototherapy machine?” the woman said.

Peoples Gazette cannot verify the woman’s claim that a Nigerian doctor ruined her son’s life. However, her stance echoes Mrs Buhari’s criticisms against the Nigerian healthcare system.

In 2017, mid-way into her husband’s first term in office, Mrs Buhari raised the alarm over the Nigerian health sector, berating it as poor.

“Before I commence my speech, I’ll like to be realistic to say a few words concerning health in Nigeria and the health delivery system in Nigeria. It’s very very very poor, sorry to say that,” Mrs Buhari said.

Mr Buhari served two terms of eight years between May 29, 2015, and May 29, 2023. Throughout his regime, Mr Buhari travelled to London for medical treatment.

In his eight years in office, Mr Buhari spent over 200 days in a London hospital treating undisclosed ailments.

ExAngel007:
https://www.thecable.ng/19-properties-bulletproof-cars-family-in-court-over-assets-of-late-army-finance-chief/amp

shegra58:
Oga PDP is dead and buried

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says the Peoples Democratic Party will bounce back to give Nigerians a responsive government.

Abubakar said this in a statement by his Media Office in Abuja on Friday.

“The PDP is the progenitor of our contemporary democracy and shall ensure that democracy did not only survive in Nigeria but also that the country thrives through it.

“Being one of the founding fathers of our great party, the PDP, I take great pride in having participated in the process of nurturing the party from infancy to a deliberate agency of socio-political and economic development in Nigeria.




“In the 16 years that the PDP was at the helm of affairs in our country, the party offered quality leadership through various administrations and the achievements recorded in those 16 years have remained the benchmark for positive growth in our economy and other critical areas of our national life.

“Of course, the PDP took a leading role in the deconstruction of military rule in Nigeria, and the peculiarities of our contemporary experiences both within Nigeria and other countries in Africa demand that the PDP should once again, rise to the occasion in cancelling the economic hardship and other structural deficiencies that directly bear negatively on our people in the past nearly eight and half years,” he said.

Abubakar added, “I have every confidence that the PDP will bounce back to give Nigerians a responsive government.”

References1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCr_uikDzQo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQPmtNmHlxQ
Head of the Republican Guard, General Brice Fence Oligui Nguema

JasmineJay5683:
https://businesselitesafrica.com/2023/08/30/lagos-ranked-5th-for-living-and-working-is-this-the-reality/


This same Lagos ranked as the third worst city to live in, in another report. The city is indeed a wonderful one!

EyeCumInPiss:
Blackman is still too crude and primitive for Democracy.

Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has said that Nigeria's economic situation is in a big mess, adding that the country is chained by poor governance.

Shettima, who spoke on Monday, when he received in audience members of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms led by the chairman, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, at State House, Abuja, expressed optimism that his principal, Bola Tinubu would tackle.

Asking the committee to come up with roadmap that would transform the economy and take the country out of the woods, former governor of Borno State, said fiscal policy and tax reforms were a potent tool for resource mobilisation.

He charged the committee to make recommendations that would be quick deliverables in view of the current economic realities.

“The task before you is enormous; I believe you have the best brains to come up with a robust roadmap that will reposition our economy, addressing some of the fundamental issues underlying our fiscal and tax policies. Fiscal and tax policies are key to the realisation of any nation’s economic development.

“I believe you will come up with a roadmap to salvage our nation, we are in a big mess, but I have confidence in your team. This is a great nation chained by poor governance, chained by many challenges and my principal is a man of courage and conviction, he is a progressive man in the Nigerian political space.”

He assured the committee of the cooperation of the National Economic Council which he chairs.

He said, “Our focus should largely dwell on domestic resource mobilisation, especially, with trends in the world today, even the biggest economies in the world are faced with this reality.”

Shettima said fiscal policy and tax reforms were critical in meeting national aspirations, and this was taking global dimensions, with global realignment of forces, like the emergence of BRICS and other geo-political unions.

He, however, expressed confident in the capacity of the committee, adding, “I think the composition of this committee bears testimony to the seriousness that the president attaches to your mandate. Honestly, I am proud of you. I am personally conversant with some of the members of this committee, who are men and women of impeccable character, high integrity, committed and patriotic.”

paramboos:
This Bishop is Ipob and Obidient. He is a hater so make una no mind am.

The Bishop of Ibadan Diocese, the Most Reverend Joseph Akinfenwa, has said the current economic environment has thrown many Nigerians into severe pain despite the promise that it will be for a short time.

Akinfenwa stated this in his sermon at a service during which the Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Henry Ndukuba, consecrated four new bishops for the church at the Archbishop Vining Memorial Cathedral Church, Ikeja, Lagos on Sunday.

Among those consecrated are the new Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Lagos, Ifedola Okupevi; and the new Bishop of Akoko Edo Diocese, Ebenezer Saiki.

Others are Venerable Collins Babalola of the Anglican Diocese of Ajayi Crowther and Venerable Festus Nwafili of Ndokwa Diocese.

Speaking, Akinfenwa said, “Even if we say it is temporary, the truth is that people are in severe pain. And when people are pushed to tears, it is clergymen who offer their shoulders for people to lean on and cry upon.

“Despite all the noise of worship in the land, who is not embarrassed by the level of corruption, crime, and bad culture in the country? It is often said that a society gets the kind of leadership it deserves. Even the leader that was described as the epitome of integrity and the champion of anti-corruption, for eight years, corruption practically gave him a knockout.”

Advising the men of God, he added, “Don’t be distracted. There is a lot of work to be done. This is divine recruitment. This should be taken as a challenge, not an achievement. This should be taken as a call to service.”

gaby:
We've been inundated with these sing-songs for ages.

Who are you guys crying to or waiting for to come nip this in the bud when you all know those involved but would rather look the other way and continue with the same old convenient rhetoric?

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, on Saturday, said Nigeria is still losing 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily to local and international thieves despite efforts to end the menace.

Ribadu disclosed this when he led a presidential delegation to inspect oil and gas facilities at Owaza in Abia and Odogwa in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State.

According to him, the activities of oil thieves and pipeline vandals had impacted negatively on the nation’s economy and were partly responsible for the rising cost of living in the country.

“It is unfortunate that few individuals would steal our common resources, and in the process cause unbelievable loss to both the nation, communities and the people,” Ribadu said.

“Nigeria has the capacity to produce two million barrels of crude daily, but we are currently producing less than 1.6 million barrels due to theft and vandalism of pipelines.

“So, we’re talking about 400,000 barrels of crude oil going to waste with few criminals and economic saboteurs not even getting much out of it,” he added.

Ribadu also said that the President Bola Tinubu administration was concerned about the development and was already taking actionable steps to address the matter.

The NSA boss called for a united front to tackle oil theft and end decades of attacks on the nation’s oil and gas infrastructures.

Raxxye:
Just shut up!
I don't know what it is you guys take that make you start vomiting nonsense without any iota of good reasoning. Why should the law of the land be disregarded like that in appointing an NYSC member to such position when the law clearly states to the contrary?

Islie:
The Director, Press and Public Relations of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Eddy Megwa, has said that the Minister of Arts and Culture, Mrs…





https://dailytrust.com/its-wrong-to-be-minister-while-serving-nysc-tells-musawa/

The killing of Adeniyi Sanni, an aide to Senator Solomon Adeola of Ogun West, raises concern about the illegal activities of soldiers who turned their guns against innocent citizens, GBENGA OLONINIRAN writes

Since the killing of a lawyer, Bolanle Raheem, in Lagos, allegedly by a policeman, Drambi Vandi, on Christmas Day, extrajudicial killings appear to have left the police, with suspected soldiers now wearing the killer uniforms.

The positions of some analysts post-EndSARS period that extrajudicial killing is systemic within the armed forces, and not just limited to the police, now seem justified, as suspected men in military uniform have allegedly perpetuated the killing of innocent citizens in recent times.

Lagos, a state that was the hotbed of mass protests against police brutality in 2020, has become the new “war zone” for the “soldiers.”

While many residents are still calling for justice three years after the alleged killing of protesters in Lekki by soldiers, suspected killer-soldiers have gone on the prowl allegedly killing innocent citizens.

For Senator Solomon Adeola and his associates, the murder of the lawmaker’s aide, Adeniyi Sanni, in the early hours of August 5, 2023, allegedly by soldiers cannot be allowed to go unpunished.

The senator representing Ogun West, through his Media Adviser, Kayode Odunaro, had said that late Sanni was stopped by security agents at a checkpoint in Ojodu, on his way to his home in Isheri, Lagos, and he was asked to provide the documents of the car he was driving, which he did through his wife who sent all the documents to his phone via WhatsApp.

According to the senator, it was later learnt that passersby through the next-of-kin phone number on Sanni’s driver’s licence, notified the family that his body was dumped around the Toyota Bus Stop in Oshodi, Lagos with gunshot wounds.

Senator Adeola had since claimed that his aide “was killed by a syndicate of soldiers operating under the newly-deployed Commander of 9 Brigade, Ikeja Cantonment of the Nigeria Army, Brigadier General Nsikan Edet, through the mounting of checkpoints and robbing of lone occupants of cars.”

On August 17, a driver, identified simply as Lawal, was killed by suspected soldiers while on his way to deliver a vehicle to its owner in Abuja.

His friend who was said to be driving ahead of him was said to have witnessed the incident and reported it to the police.

The said soldiers allegedly told Lawal that they were taking him to their barracks only to move him to Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos, where they shot him dead and threw his body into a bush.

The acting Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, 81 Division NA, Lt. Col Olabisi Ayeni, said the army was investigating the matter.

“In as much as information into the allegation is still scanty at the moment, being a responsible organisation, Headquarters 81 Division Nigerian Army considers it appropriate to bring the occurrence to public notice and the steps taken to identify the alleged persons in military uniform, believed to be soldiers and bring them to justice if truly they are serving soldiers.

“The Division is currently investigating in conjunction with the Nigerian Police, Lagos State Command, to unravel the identity of the alleged suspects and the circumstances surrounding the alleged unfortunate incident. At the end of the investigation, if the suspects are identified as serving soldiers, they will be made to face the full wrath of both military and civil laws,” Ayeni said in a statement on August 20.

In June, a commercial driver, Bolaji Sunday, was hospitalised after two yet-to-be-identified soldiers allegedly shot him for parking his vehicle in front of the Oriental Transport Company around Magboro Bus Stop. He fell into a gutter along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway where he was bleeding profusely. The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, confirmed the report to our correspondent, saying the suspected soldiers were on the run. The Army also said it was probing the matter.

“I thank God, I am faring well,” Bolaji, who narrowly survived death, told The PUNCH on Wednesday when he was asked about his health.

Contacted on Wednesday for a reaction and an update on the investigation into the recent killings linked to suspected soldiers, the spokesperson for the 81 Division of the Nigerian Army, Lt. Col. Ayeni, simply said, “Investigation is ongoing.”

The spokesperson for the Headquarters of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, when asked for a reaction to the reports linking Army officers to killings, only shared the earlier released statement of Ayeni with our correspondent, which was silent about the killing of Sanni, linked to suspected soldiers.

Pattern of killings: ‘Uniformed men after new vehicles’

What is not clear is what the suspected soldiers had with vehicles, most of which were said to be new cars being driven by the two murdered victims.

When our correspondent was at the Tuesday candlelight procession held in honour of Sanni, whose remains were later buried on Wednesday, some of his friends and other well-wishers who mourned him wondered why the uniformed men were after new cars.

“It’s because Sanni was a senator’s ally, that is why the matter is popular. It happened to him today, who knows who is next? If it were another person, nobody would hear; ordinary persons have been killed in that manner and nothing came out of it,” one of the deceased’s friends who demanded anonymity said in a random chat with our correspondent.

Another one said, “They have killed a lot of people before Niyi (Sanni). They would kill some people, put them in a vehicle, and take the bodies away, you would think they were knocked down by a vehicle. Many well-dressed people, looking good, and you will just meet their corpses beside the road.”

“The other man (Lawal) was coming from Badagry taking a vehicle somewhere when he was killed at Iyana Ipaja.

“What they are looking for these days are new vehicles. You dealers should be careful,” another man, likely to be a friend of Sanni, was heard telling the next man, being referred to as a car dealer.

“The man killed at Iyana Ipaja, the vehicle he was driving was a Benz (The PUNCH cannot verify the details of the vehicle yet). It was easy to be traced because it was a registered vehicle. If it was not registered, it would have been taken away. No security under this state government. At night, they (uniformed men) wreak havoc, and during the day, they extort,” he added.

Senator Adeola in a statement on Monday had also said that there was a similar pattern in the killing of his aide and the Lagos driver, known as Lawal, alleging that it was a pattern of robbing people of their cars.

“To date, the black Toyota Camry of Mr Sanni, his phones, and other valuables have yet to be recovered,” the lawmaker noted.

Sanni’s brother, Opeyemi, while mourning his brother on Tuesday, said his brother taught him so many things, including how to dress, run, and drive, among others.

“Niyi is still with us in another way, not physically but in spirit,” he said during the procession programme on Tuesday, adding that he did not know how to say his brother was no more.

While the army said it was jointly investigating the killing of Lawal alongside the state police command, the spokesperson for the police in Lagos, Benjamin Hundeyin, said he did not have any update on the matter yet.

“There is no update for now; I don’t have any update for now,” Hundeyin told The PUNCH.

When asked if he knew whether any soldier had been identified over the case, the PPRO said, “You need to speak with the Army for that. I can’t give any information yet.”

Assembly demands state security meeting

The Lagos State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to convene a security council meeting in the state in a bid to stem the rising spate of killings of residents by men in uniform.

The Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, said, “Where we begin to have one, two, three killings in the state, it calls for concern.

“I quite agree with the prime mover of the motion to call on Mr Governor to quickly hold a meeting with all heads of security agencies in Lagos State to nip this in the bud.

“At least three people have been declared dead, said to be killed by men in either police or army uniforms and we cannot conclude if they are security men or otherwise.”

Speaking earlier under ‘Matter of Urgent Public Importance,’ Hon. Kehinde Joseph (Alimosho 2), had said, “The funny thing is that the series of killings took the same pattern.”

Lagos is still peaceful, govt reacts

Reacting to the call for a security meeting, Gboyega Akosile, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, said the governor had called a security meeting before the Assembly even raised it. He assured that Governor Sanwo-Olu was on top of the security situation in the state.

“It’s a good thing that the lawmakers are talking about it now. It’s not unknown to the governor; he has taken care of the security situation in Lagos State and that is why Lagos State continues to be the most secure state in Nigeria.”

He said addressing insecurity would not be limited to the security agencies alone, but the entire security architecture in the state.

“Just last week, the governor held a security council meeting. The governor is on top of his game and he will continue to hold security meetings to review the security situation,” Akosile said in an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday.

On the killings, Akosile said one could not refer to the perpetrators as soldiers until an investigation revealed such. “Reports say they are men in army uniform. Anybody can masquerade and disguise as a soldier. Until the investigation has been conducted, anybody who perpetuates a crime is a criminal. The government is on top of it and I believe that we are going to stem the tide in Lagos; we will not allow it to snowball into where the state will not be comfortable for residents to live in,” the CPS said.

Groups blame govt

Human rights organisations have, however, condemned the trend, with some describing it as degeneracy in society.

The Executive Director, Socio-Economic Rights And Accountability Project, Kolawole Oludare, said the killings could be blamed on the government for not putting adequate security architecture in place.

Oludare said, “It is an effect of negligence on the part of those who are supposed to ensure the security and welfare of the citizenry, and that is the purpose of governance. If the government cannot control the criminals that are perpetuating any type of evil leading to the injury and loss of lives of the citizens, the blame is squarely at the doorstep of the government. No excuse is good enough on the part of the government, it is an index of incompetence and negligence.”

Oludare, however, charged residents to be swift in alerting security agencies, saying the victims of the killings might not have died if timely information reached the authorities from citizens. He also wondered why cameras were not at strategic locations in a city like Lagos.

Saying the reason for the killing was unknown and it was not certain if they were soldiers, Oludare, however, noted that the clash between soldiers and officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority was also glaring.

On his part, the National Publicity Secretary, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Gerald Katchy, said it was a result of the overstretching of the military officers.

“The previous administration of the Federal Government made so much use of the military; even in most areas where police are expected to police the society, the government use soldiers, exposing them to many dangers,” Katchy said.

He said the military is now intervening in so many areas where they are not expected, ‘especially in Lagos, we have seen videos of military brutality against policemen or LASTMA officials and it’s on the rise. One of the things that give room to it is impunity and lack of respect for the rule of law.”

Fearing that the situation could give room for anarchy, Katchy called on service chiefs to put officers in check.

Meanwhile, the National Coordinator, Advocate for People’s Rights and Justice, Victor Giwa, blamed it on the economy, saying “It’s a disturbing sign that shows the disconnection and discomfort of people within the military.”

He said when there was hunger and poverty and pressure from the family, and there was a slight provocation, this kind of killings would occur.

The Department of State Services has arrested the Manager, Abuja-Kaduna Kaduna Train Services, Pascal Nnorli, following the leak of a memo warning of the possible terror attack on the Abuja-Kaduna railway.

A reliable source in the Nigerian Railway Corporation told our correspondent on condition of anonymity that the manager was arrested along with the Operations Manager, Victor Adamu, and other staff members.

The PUNCH had reported that the DSS last Wednesday issued a security alert to the Nigerian Railway Corporation on a plot by bandits to attack the Abuja-Kaduna train link at any possible time.

In a memo signed by the Director of the DSS, FCT Command, R.N. Adepemu, the secret police warned train passengers to be security-conscious.


Speaking with our correspondent on Sunday, the NRC source said, “Do you know that they have arrested our manager since last Thursday – the two of them, the operation manager and Pascal? But they have released one of them.

“Victor is a victim of circumstances because they met him in Pascal’s office, so they arrested him together with all Pascal’s staff and took them to the DSS office. Pascal is still there now.”

The source said the arrest was likely to be in connection with the leak of the DSS memo.

The source claims that the letter, which detailed sensitive information about the attack, was addressed to the Managing Director of the NRC, stressing that it explicitly warned that if the letter were to leak, it could lead to arrests.

“I couldn’t tell why they arrested them but what I am hearing is they said one letter concerning this Abuja-Kaduna attack, they wrote one letter to our Managing Director and it states clearly that if the letter leaks, it can lead to arrest and according to DSS it was Pascal’s office they dropped the letter and the letter leaked and went viral.”

When contacted, the Managing Director, NRC, Fidet Okhiria, declined comments.